14-YEAR-OLD SH-OT IN THE FACE Outside Vacant Cincinnati Building — Now Questions Are Mounting 🚨
A 14-year-old boy was shot in the face outside a vacant building on Warsaw Avenue in East Price Hill, drawing attention to the ongoing issue of vacant and nuisance properties across Cincinnati.
Amber Kassem, president of the East Price Hill Improvement Association, said the building could have been secured to prevent such incidents.
“That building could have been boarded up,” Kassem said.
City officials estimate there are approximately 5,000 vacant buildings in Cincinnati, many of which pose safety risks and contribute to neighborhood decline.
“The estimate is that we have 5,000 vacant buildings,” Cincinnati City Councilman Mark Jeffreys said.
Kassem said the shooting, while tragic, was not entirely unexpected.
“I’d like to say that I’m surprised, but I feel like these outcomes are very predictable,” she said.
Hours before the shooting, Kassem had expressed concerns about the property in an email.
“I sent an email at 10:30 that morning, 8 to 10 hours before that even happened,” she said.
Vacant properties across the city often become sites of overgrowth, crime and dangerous activity.
“There’s a quality of life issue for people who are living next to these places, and if somebody’s squatting there, it invites nefarious activity,” Jeffreys said.
To address the problem, the city has implemented a vacant building registry requiring property owners to register their buildings twice a year.
“So we passed this vacant building registry. It’s starting to be implemented now, which requires the owner of a property to register their building every six months,” Jeffreys said.
City inspectors are currently visiting about 200 properties each week to ensure they are boarded up, structurally sound, and free of unauthorized occupants. Property owners who fail to comply face fines and other penalties.
Previously, the city relied on complaints to identify vacant properties. Under the new system, buildings are classified as vacant if water service has been shut off for six months, triggering notification to the owner to register and comply with regulations.
With thousands of vacant properties still posing challenges, residents and officials are working to address the issue and improve conditions in affected neighborhoods.
